, 1887-08-28
ON H BORDER.

l have knocked about a good deal in
my time, from doubling Cape Horn as a
sailor to digging gold as a miner, and
fighting Indians as a scout, and yet the
closest escape / ever had from death was
with my eyes wide open and through
my own stupidity. Early in the seven
ties, | was down IN the Indian territory
buying horses for shipment east. / had
a partner, and we travelled with our own
team in a covered wagon. That terri
tory is not any too peaceful now, but in
'72-3 you not only wanted a trlsty rifle
with you, blu you wanted the knack of
dropping your man first. Travelling from
ranch to auC rs we did, with every
body knowing hat we had money to
buy horses with, our situation was one
requiring constant vigilance. There was
never "A night that both of us slept at
once, and never u day that we were not
ON the watch for some plan to get the
better of us. In one trip of three months
we had five different watch dogs pois-
oned. and finally gave up trying to keep
one. You might imagine that it would
have been worth while for some of the
predatory bands roaming the country to
make an open attack on us, but the fell
lows reasoned differently. A couple of
men armed with Winchesters and re-
volvers, and determined to defend their
own at any cost, are antagonists not to
be despised. Your western outlaw, with
very few exceptions, is just as careful
about getting u bullet into his body as
any n else.
One day In July, while we were on the
north fork of the Canadian river, and
about twenty miles below Shawneetown.
n of the horses in our team was bitten
by n rattlesnake. | was driving. and l
saw the snake as it lifted itself from the
grass and bit the horse twice on the leg.
1t was "A hot day, the horses well heated
up, and the poison took effect very soon.
We had no remedy for it, but were COM
PEELED to stand by and see the animal suf-
fer and die. 1t wasn't quite an hour
utter he was struck before he was dead.
In buying horses we stipulated for deliv-
cry at certain points, and thus had no
spare ones with us. To make IL team
whole one of us must take the other horse
and ride off and make a purchase. l had
been over the route before, and / knew
that the nearest ranch was twelve miles
up the river. 1t was now 4 o'clock in the
afternoon, and we were within half a
mile of the stream and in a wild and
lonely district of country. We had with
us in a tin box in the wagon over 81, 900
in gold, and the misfortune to our horse
naturally increased u anxieties. NV
partner insisted that | should be the one
to remain with the wagon, and he had no
sooner moved away than 1 began to make
things secure. The very first move was
to take the tin box from the wagon and
bury it in the ground under the vehicle,
and after that l staked out the horse, saw
that every tirearm was in good order, and
beat around the camp to drive away any
reptiles lurking about.
There was no use in expecting Patton,
my partner, back before 8 o'clock or
later. He would doubtless find a suitable
horse at the first ranch, but the ranch
man might be away, or there were a
dozen other reasons to call for delay. We
carried provisions with us, and at about 6
O'Clock l built a fire and prepared my
supper, and was about to begin eating
when caught sight of a horse and rider
approaching camp from the northwest.
The ground was open for three or four
miles, and as l had a glass with me I
made out, while the horse was yet q mile
and a half away, that he bore a woman
on his back. Had she beer a squaw the
the tight would not nave occasioned sur
prise, but the first look proved that she
was white and that her horse was faded
and coming slowly. AS 1 held the glass
on her l saw her turn and look back, as
one pursued, and long before she reached
me l had become greatly interested in
her case. She rode straight for the
wagon, and when she finally came up her
horse NyaQ vary nnTnh hlpun onl tlo
woman's face s~eemedSto betray both hope
and fear by turns. She was an average
looking female, about 40 years old, and
as she drew rein beside me we SURVEYED
each other for half a minute before
either spoke. During that interval 1
caught an expression ON her face which l
did not at all like. 1t was a sly, sinister
look, but it passed swiftly away, and was
replaced by one of anxiety. / was the
first to speak, saying:
"Well are you in trouble?n
'In great trouble, sir" she replied.
81 have been living with my brother on
a small ranch about fifteen miles distant.
Two hours & a dozen drunken Kicka-
poo Indians visited the place, wounded
my brother and set fire to the house, and
would have assaulted me had | not fled
VA ehLo hOiSS' 1heS puISueu me LOT
several miles, and I-In-
Here she broke down and began to crv
and sob. What could l do but ask her
to dismount, give her my promise of pro-
lection, and say that when my partner
returned we would drive straight to the
ranch and sacrifice our lives, if need be-,
to rescue her brother and teach the In
dams a lesson? She did not come down
without considerable palaver, seeming to
be very sensitive about getting me into
trouble, and when she did take a seat on
the blankets prepared for her, she on
tinued to cry and lament and would not
touch a mouthful of food.
1t had grown dark by the time 1 had
eaten my supper, and it was now time to
look for Patton. l sought, as any man
would have done under the circum-
stances, to cheer the woman up, and by
and by she gave over crying and seemed
a bit more hopeful. She explained that
she had removed to the territory from
GAINESVILLE, Ark, three years before,
being n widow with one son. The son
had died within the year, and the brother,
who was an old bachelor, and not in good
health, had come on to remain until the
place could be sold out. A Kickapoo
buck had taken a great fancy to the
woman and wanted to marry her, and
-